Macron’s Mexico Visit Spotlighted by Demand for Two Centuries‑Old Mexica Codices

The planned return of two centuries‑old Mexica manuscripts held in French public collections will be a high‑profile topic during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Mexico. Mexico is pressing for the repatriation of the Codex Borbonicus (kept by the French National Assembly library) and the Codex Azcatitlan (in the French National Library), requests that pit cultural‑heritage claims and national sentiment against French legal and conservation constraints.

What are these codices?

Scholars call these documents codices: richly illustrated manuscripts that combine pictorial imagery and alphabetic text to record pre‑ and early post‑Hispanic history, ritual, and belief systems of peoples in what is now Mexico.

Codex Borbonicus

Named for the Palais Bourbon, where France's lower parliamentary chamber sits, the Codex Borbonicus has been in the National Assembly library since the 19th century. The manuscript is best known for detailing the Mexica divinatory and solar calendars and is considered crucial for understanding Mexica religious life.

Codex Azcatitlan

The Codex Azcatitlan recounts the history of Mexico‑Tenochtitlan—from the migration from the mythical Aztlan through the fall of the Mexica empire to Spanish conquest in 1521—and is held by France's National Library.

How did they arrive in France?

The National Assembly records say it acquired the Borbonicus at an 1826 auction, though researchers believe the manuscript had been taken from a Spanish library during the Napoleonic period. The Azcatitlan was donated to France's National Library in 1898 by Augustine Goupil, widow of the Franco‑Mexican collector Eugène Goupil; the gift came with a stipulation that the collection remain preserved intact within the library.

Why is Mexico requesting their return?

Mexico has intensified efforts to recover cultural property abroad under recent administrations. Officials note that trafficking and loss of cultural items harm communities and national heritage: Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History reports the recovery of some 16,200 cultural items since 2018.

"Our main interest is the return of these codices, which are very important to Mexico," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said previously, underscoring the symbolic and scholarly importance of the manuscripts.

Mexican advisers say the Azcatitlan is especially important for next year's bicentennial of Franco‑Mexican relations, and Indigenous groups such as the Hñähñu (often spelled Hñañhu) have demanded the Borbonicus be returned because it contains ceremonial formulas associated with the Mexica Fuego Nuevo (New Fire) ritual, next scheduled for 2027.

France's legal and conservation response

French authorities say they maintain an open dialogue with Mexico but stress that both institutions legally hold the codices and invoke the principle of inalienability of public collections, which prevents sale or permanent transfer of state library and museum holdings. Far‑left lawmakers proposed a repeal of this principle in April, but the measure is widely considered unlikely to pass.

Conservation concerns are also cited: the codices are fragile and can only be shown briefly and under strict conditions, making long‑term loans or transfers challenging. Relations have been sensitive in the past: in 1982 a Mexican lawyer, José Luis Castañeda, removed the Codex Tonalamatl from France's National Library and took it to Mexico, a move that strained bilateral cultural ties.

What to expect from the talks

The codices are likely to be discussed at high diplomatic levels as symbolic elements of a broader push to repatriate cultural heritage. Any resolution would need to balance legal ownership claims, international cultural‑property norms, conservation imperatives, and Mexico's demands for access to foundational national documents.